Dallas ? Rumors of Nebraska’s demise may have been greatly exaggerated. The Cornhuskers lead the Big 12 North and are back in the AP Top 25.

OK, so it’s just one game into the season. But an opening 17-7 Big 12 win over rising Oklahoma State and a return to the rankings are important steps for Nebraska after its first non-winning record in 41 years.

“I think it reinforces a lot of things in our players’ minds,” Nebraska coach Frank Solich said Monday during the Big 12 teleconference. “We went into this game with the idea of truly believing in ourselves. For that to materialize the way you really want it to, coming off that first game and playing well, certainly the win was big.”

Oklahoma State coach Les Miles has to worry about the opposite reaction. The Cowboys dropped out of the poll after their first preseason ranking since 1985.

Even with the returning trio of quarterback Josh Fields, receiver Rashaun Woods and running back Tatum Bell, the Cowboys scored against Nebraska only on their opening drive. And they had five turnovers.

“It is healthy for our guys to understand that they had a tremendous opportunity, and that opportunity was national prominence and ranking,” Miles said. “That window of opportunity has closed temporarily, but could easily reappear as the season moves forward.”

Not until Oct. 11 when they get back into Big 12 play against seventh-ranked Kansas State. Before then, they can’t slip up in their non-conference games against Wyoming, Southwest Missouri State, SMU and Louisiana-Lafayette.

“Hats off to a great job by the Nebraska staff preparing for that game,” Miles said. “Their kids played hard. We were prepared for that game and ready to play. They got us.”

The Cornhuskers were 7-7 last season, the first time since 1961 they didn’t have a winning record. Their run of 348 appearances in the Top 25 poll ended Sept. 29, 2002, after a loss to Iowa State, and they started the season unranked for the first time since 1969.

Oklahoma State's Josh Fields (13) is sacked by Nebraska's Benard Thomas (5) and Barrett Ruud (38). The Huskers defeated the Cowboys in their season opener Saturday at Lincoln, Neb.

“It’s something that this program has been all about, being in the Top 25 and being a top football team in the country,” Solich said. “It’s great to be back in. I think it was obvious to everyone, including ourselves, that we had to prove that we deserved to get back in.”

The Cornhuskers will remain alone at the top of the Big 12 North for almost a month. The next conference game is Missouri at Kansas on Sept. 27, a week before the rest of the league’s eight teams finally play games that count in the standings.

Nebraska entered the AP poll Monday at No. 23, just ahead of Big 12 rival Colorado.

The top three teams remained the same, with Oklahoma at No. 1 followed by defending national champion Ohio State and Miami.

The biggest movement was caused by Southern California’s 23-0 win at Auburn. The Trojans moved up four spots to No. 4. Auburn plummeted 11 places to No. 17.

Michigan dropped one spot to No. 5 after beating Central Michigan 45-7.

Texas and Kansas State were six and seventh, respectively.

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Throwback II?: Top-ranked Oklahoma wore replica jerseys from the 1950s to celebrate the championships of the past during its 37-3 season-opening win over North Texas.

The throwback jerseys may have been more appropriate for the Sooners’ trip Saturday to Alabama.

“We didn’t think that far ahead, we probably should have,” said Sooners coach Bob Stoops. “We don’t have any road ones.”

Oklahoma and Alabama have won 13 national championships among them. Their first regular-season meeting was last year.

“You talk about Oklahoma and Alabama and start adding up national championships, conference championships … you’re talking about two special programs,” Stoops said.

“Put them together and it’s exciting.”

The jerseys Oklahoma wore last week will be auctioned.

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The Other Side: In 10 seasons at Toledo’s coach before coming to Missouri, coach Gary Pinkel knew what a big deal it was to go against teams from major conferences. Now he’s on the other side.

“It’s still about preparation,” Pinkel said. “We can sit here and analyze all of the different issues of it. From our standpoint, it’s still about us getting prepared the right way.”

The Tigers play Saturday at Ball State, a team they beat 41-6 last season. But Missouri also lost last year to another Mid-American Conference team, 51-28 at Bowling Green.

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Sproles Update: Kansas State’s Darren Sproles had his streak of 100-yard games stopped at 10 after he left Saturday’s game favoring his left leg. Sproles was held out of practice Monday.

Coach Bill Snyder wasn’t specific about the injury or whether the running back would be ready to play Saturday’s against McNeese State.

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Players of the week: Joel Klatt of Colorado, Oklahoma’s Derrick Strait and Selvin Young of Texas were named Big 12 players of the week Monday.

Klatt went 21-of-34 for 402 yards and four touchdowns in his first career start to lead Colorado to a 42-35 win against Colorado State.

Oklahoma’s Strait had seven tackles, two for losses, and forced one fumble in the Sooners’ 37-3 defeat of North Texas. Strait also broke up one pass to put his career number at 44, which ties a school record set by Roy Williams.

Young won special team honors with a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against New Mexico State. He added another touchdown on a 39-yard punt return.

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Extra Points: Iowa State senior DE Tyson Smith had surgery after breaking his right leg and tearing ligaments Saturday. Coach Dan McCarney said Smith is done for the season. He will take a medical red-shirt and return next year. … Reggie McNeal and Dustin Long are still co-No. 1 quarterbacks at Texas A&M.